Mr Giakoumopoulos held a meeting with the newly elected Chairman of the High Council of Justice Mr Ihor Benedysiuk.

The directions of further cooperation between the Council of Europe and the HCJ were discussed following the official opening of the CoE Project “Consolidation of Justice Sector Policy Development in Ukraine”.

“The HCJ is a key institution for the judiciary in Ukraine, and for the Council of Europe work in Ukraine. The reform is a long and difficult path that will depend largely on changes to the Constitution", - stated Christos Giakoumopoulos. He also said that the new project will be flexible enough to meet the needs and requests of the Ukrainian partners. In addition, the Special Adviser recalled that this project is only a part of the cooperation between the Council of Europe and Ukraine. "We hope to deepen our cooperation based on all instruments and mechanisms of the CoE and address efficiently the needs of the Ukrainian justice system" - he said.

Participants also exchanged views the reform of the country's judicial system and on further institutional development of the High Council of Justice in the context of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine.